Daily Times

Karachi: The Sindh High Court summoned the investigation officer of Baldia factory fire case on Monday for August 31st on the bail plea of a co-accused Zubair alias Charya.

The SHC on Monday heard bail application of Zubair alias charya, co-accused in Baldia factory fire case.

The Counsel of Charya had submitted a written statement in the court.

The counsel said that Charya was arrested on the confessional statement of main accused in the case, Abdul Rehman alias Bhola. He submitted that his client had neither confessed of his involvement in the fire nor his statement under 164 of CrPC was recorded.

The counsel said that the case was instituted merely on the Joint Investigation Team report. He added that Bhola and Charya were arrested in the case later but the workers and leaders of the political parties, whose name surfaced in the case, were not arrested.

The Special Public Prosecutor contended that the accused had confessed of his involvement before a judge , the fire did not break out rather the factory was put on fire. He added that over 250 people were killed in the inferno.

The court while issuing notice to the investigation officer of Baldia Factory fire case adjourned further hearing till August 21, 2017.

At least 259 workers had perished in a deadly fire that engulfed Ali Enterprises in Baldia town on September 11, 2012. The incident was termed the biggest industrial disaster in Pakistan’s history.

Zubair had approached the high court against the dismissal of his bail application by the concerned Anti-Terrorism Court where the trial against Muttahida Qaumi Movement”s leaders Hammad Siddiqui, Abdul Rauf Siddiqui, Abdul Rehman alias Bhola and others is pending.

A joint investigation team had found that Zubair, a supporter of the MQM, visited the factory on the day of the incident accompanied by Waseem Dehelvi and four others. An accountant at the factory, Muhammad Arshad, testified that he saw Zubair handing out black shopping bags to the men accompanying him. Zubair was the first to toss a bag to the side of the warehouse and the rest followed course and threw their bags in different directions. The fire erupted within a short period of time, Arshad said.

In the plea, Zubair’s lawyer had argued that the trial court had rejected his client’s bail plea without considering the facts on record. He pleaded the court to set aside the trial court’s bail rejection order and grant bail to Zubair.

A Rangers special public prosecutor had opposed the plea, arguing that the accused had already confessed to having set fire to the factory, thus it was not an accident. He added that over 250 workers were killed in the incident.

The prosecutor informed the court that another MQM activist, A Rehman, had also been arrested in the case, while the MQM Karachi Tanzeemi Committee’s incharge Hammad Siddiqui had also been declared a proclaimed offender in the case. Therefore, he contended that the applicant was not entitled to bail, which should be rejected.

Published in Daily Times, August 22^nd 2017.